


She Changes the Weather

by ShadowJaySmith



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: 2x08, F/M, KaraMel, kara x mon-el
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-07 12:44:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8801332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowJaySmith/pseuds/ShadowJaySmith
Summary: {Request} Set after [2x08]. Kara doesn't tell Mon-El about the kiss, and they don't speak. He reverts back to his old ways, and she hides from the responsibility of talking about it. Karamel (one shot)





	

**Author's Note:**

> PROMPT: "Hi its me the silly anon who bombarded you in your other account. I would love for you to write a fic set after 2x08 Mon-El reverts back to his old ways (bad boy/flirtatious/extrovert) due to the denial of the kiss and feelings for each other. Kara stays away from him (bc she helplessly gets jealous/nervous and awkward around him) annoyed enough, she eventually gives in and shows him two can play his game. Give me back and forth realistic tension!"
> 
> hope it's to your liking!

    “...About what?” Mon-El frowned, and it was very convincing, but for a second Kara couldn’t believe he couldn’t remember what had happened hours before. “What did I do?”

    She was about to say it, but she froze. In the midst of the words _“You kissed me”_ leaving her lips, she held her tongue. Immediately she went for comic relief--

    “You drooled!” She said suddenly, cursing herself.

    “I-- _what?_ ” he said, “Oh god--”

    “--You drooled _all over_ yourself!” She laughed. It sounded so forced to her--he was going to know, she could tell, she wasn’t convincing--

    “Ooh,” he laughed, covering his mouth, “that’s--that’s _bad_.”

    She giggled, and he smiled up at her, “But uh...that’s it? Nothing else…?”

    “Oh, no.” she waved it off. They stood awkwardly for a moment and then she nodded, “Okay well, get some rest.”

    He nodded and watched her leave. He couldn’t help but think she ran away so fast. The moment she got a chance to get away from him, she was off. Maybe it was better that she thought he didn’t know. Maybe they’d both be better off if he continued to inhibit himself from showing her that kind of affection.

    He turned back towards the wall and looked down at his hands as they sat folded in his lap. Suddenly, he couldn’t help but feel a bit bitter about the whole thing. He cracked his knuckles and looked up, scowling immensely hard.

    “Hey crazy man,” Winn teased easily, standing to Mon-El’s side, “what’s with the scowl? You look like you’re gonna pop something.”

    Mon-El didn’t reply, only stood and pulled the IV out of his hand. “It’s nothing.” he said, brushing quickly past.

    “Hey--wait!” Winn protested, “Where are you going?”

    Mon-El walked quickly out, past Eliza, Alex and J’onn. Winn jogged after him. “Hey, Mon-El--!”

    “--Where’re my clothes?” Mon-El stopped abruptly, turning on his heel and almost making Winn run into him.

    “We got rid of them, we thought they had the virus on them--where’re you going?” Winn asked quickly, Eliza and Alex coming up behind him.

    “Home?” Mon-El said as though it were obvious.

    “Oh, Mon-El, I don’t know if that’s a good idea--” Alex began,

    “--You’ve just gotten better we really should keep you for observation--at least overnight.” Eliza offered and Mon-El sighed,

    “Listen, I’m done being locked up in here.” He said bitterly, “I want to go home, and I’m going to go.”

    “Mon-El--” J’onn began with a more stern tone, but without any warning, Mon-El disappeared, papers in the arms of agents passing by flying in his wake.

*    *    *

    Kara walked out of the photocopy room, tucking a folder underneath a pile she had stacked high in her arms. She sucked on her bottom lip and seemed generally pretty happy.

    “Kara.” She looked up and jumped.

    “Ah!” She yelped, dropping her folders.

    Alex raised her eyebrows, giving Kara a very concerned look. “You okay there?” she said as they both bent down in unison to pick up the beige cardstock.

    “Oh, yeah,” Kara shook her head as they stood, touching her glasses nervously, “I’m good, I was just...not...thinking.”

    “Oh, you _weren’t_ thinking?” Alex said skeptically, placing the last folder on top of the pile.

    “Yes.” Kara said unconvincingly, walking past Alex towards the elevator, pressing the button aggressively.

    “So what’d you guys argue about?” Alex said as though it were an acceptably casual topic.

    “Who?” Kara asked as they stepped onto the lift.

    “You and--” Alex looked around at the other people in the CATCO elevator, “-- _Mike_.”

    Kara frowned, “Nothing, we didn’t have a fight.”

    “Oh yeah?” Alex said as they stepped off, her face growing more disapproving by the minute.

    “No,” Kara said, “n--nothing happened between us.”

    “Oh really?” Alex said, opening the door to Kara’s office and letting her sister in first.

    “Yes, really!” Kara laughed nervously, walking around her desk and putting the folders on it, “What’s this about, Alex?”

    “Well,” Alex said slowly, taking a seat in the chair on the other side of Kara’s desk, “after you left he got all _moody_ and decided he wasn’t gonna stay put anymore and then blurred out of the DEO before we could stop him.”

    Kara blinked, “Well that’s weird.”

    “Yeah,” Alex smiled tightly, obviously not amused by an act she thought her sister was playing, “that’s what I thought too.”

    Kara frowned, obviously pondering very hard, “I mean, I didn’t say anything to him--”

    “--Kara--”

    “--I only teased him about him drooling--”

    “--Kara?” Alex said, looking mildly disgusted and majorly confused.

    “--Oh god, what if that’s it--?” Kara said, touching her mouth worriedly and looking down at the ground.

    “-- _Kara!_ ” Alex said, making Kara jump again, “What happened.”

    “We might have,” Kara said slowly, holding her hands in front of her and wringing them slowly, “maybe… kissed?”

    “ _What?_ ” Alex gaped, and Kara began to try and downplay the whole situation.

    “--He was _dying_ and I was crying and then he just touched my cheek and I didn’t stop him and then he leaned over and I didn’t stop him and then he just,” she said very fast, finally pausing to take a break, “kissed me.” she said softly.

    “Okay?” Alex said, grinning with sincere surprise, “I--I don’t see what the problem is here.” she said, scooting closer to her sister in her chair.

    “He…doesn’t remember.” She said, “And I was going to tell him but then I _panicked_ and just said the thing about drool--”

    “--Wait, what thing about drool--?” Alex tried to interject, shaking her head, confused again.

    “--And Alex I feel so nervous.” Kara said. Her sister paused and looked at her face; she couldn’t help but think she looked miserable.

    Alex looked at her, open-mouthed and brow furrowed. “Oh Kara,” she said in her big sister voice.

    “I know, I should’ve told him--he _knows_ something’s up, he’s not _dumb_ \--”

    “--still debatable--”

    “-- _Alex!_ ”

    “Sorry, continue.”

    Kara began to pace, “Oh god, how am I going to tell him?”

    “I don’t know, Kara--” Alex said sympathetically, avidly watching her sister walk around aimlessly.

    “--He’s going to _hate_ me!” Kara rubbed her forehead and Alex stood, walking over and grabbing Kara’s arms, making her stop moving.

    “Kara.” She said firmly, “He _kissed_ you. I _doubt_ he’s going to hate you.”

    Kara swallowed and sighed hopelessly. She plopped down in her swivel chair and Alex leaned on the desk next to her. “I don’t know what to do.” she said.

    “Well, did you like it?” Alex asked gently.

    Kara’s head jerked back over to face Alex, “What?” she asked, her brows furrowed intensely.

    “When he kissed you,” Alex said, “did you like it.”

    Kara’s lips parted, as if she hadn’t even thought about the idea. She turned away from her sister and looked at the wall. She blinked a few times, frowning at the plain, white plaster. Alex waited patiently, watching her sister formulate a response.

    “I--” Kara began but she stopped. She turned to her sister, “I don’t know.”

    This was the answer Alex had expected. “Have you thought about it?” She rubbed Kara’s shoulder gently.

    She shook her head slowly, “I hadn’t even--” she looked up at Alex, realization dawning on her face, “I think I _did_ like it.” she breathed.

    “Really?” Alex said, scooting closer again, “You’re face certainly seems to say so.” she teased.

    Kara laughed, blushing. “Yeah, he was really nice. He didn’t try to force anything, just,” she waved a hand around vaguely, laughing and looking down at her knees. “Yeah.”

    Alex smiled. Kara’s face suddenly fell. “Oh god.” she looked up at her sister, “How am I going to tell him?” she asked softly and Alex tried to grin encouragingly but only managed to give her a sad half-smile.

    “Kara,” she said gently, “I think he already knows.”

    “How--?”

    “--I think,” she said slowly, “I think he might’ve been pretending he didn’t know because he was worried that you wouldn’t want anything to become of it.”

    “Wha--how could he just--?”

    “-- _Think_ , Kara.” Alex said, “would you have ever told him if he didn’t know? Or would you have just put it off until the last possible second or-- _god forbid_ \--he kissed you again?”

    She said the last part in a sarcastic voice, but Kara knew it was true. She looked down at her hands and thought about it for a long while.

    “Don’t _blame_ him, Kara,” she said, “just go _get_ him.”

    Kara nodded, “I’ll tell him--after work.”

    “No!” Alex chastised, shaking her head, “go tell him _now._ ”

    “Oh--” Kara blinked, “ _Oh!_ ” she jumped up, and Alex straightened, “I, uh,” Kara closed her eyes for a second and paused, then relaxed and looked up at Alex, a smile on her face. “I gotta go.”

    “Yeah you do.” Alex cheered, as Kara walked past, grabbing her coat off the rack, “Call me afterwards!”

    “I will,” Kara beamed, holding the edge of the door, “thank you, Alex.”

    “Anytime.” Alex smiled adoringly, and leaned against the desk, “Now go on!”

    “Alright!” Kara said, laughing and shutting the door gently behind her.

    Alex smiled to herself and looked around Kara’s office. She tapped the desk’s edge with her nails and then pulled out her phone, dialing a number she knew by heart.

    “Hey, Maggie, can you come pick me up?”

*    *    *

    Kara landed gently in the alley next to the bar and straightened her jacket. She was beginning to rethink this whole thing. Maybe it would be better if they never talked about it, maybe it would be better if they just both forgot about it and moved on.

    She walked towards the door and then stopped, turning around and walking back to where she landed. She turned _back_ around and walked towards the door, remembering Alex’s words of encouragement. She was about to knock, and then she grimaced and turned back again. She took only two steps this time before turning back around and going to knock on the door when it opened.

    A tall alien stopped in the doorway and looked her up and down critically, deep black eyes searching her as if he could see straight through her.

    “Going in?” He asked in a deep, gravely voice.

    “Oh, yes.” Kara said, awkwardly walking around him and into the dive bar.

    She pulled her coat sleeves into her fists which were securely in her pockets and walked into the bar. She looked around carefully, trying to find Mon-El among the small crowd of people.

    She spotted him finally, sitting on a barstool and drinking a beer solemnly. Her face broke into a smile just at the sight of him, and she took a step forward, only to see another woman walking to the seat next to him. She paused mid-step. The woman gently dragged her fingers across his shoulder blades, and he looked up at her as she sat down, smiling in the way she used to see him smile all the time. The woman was practically leaning on him; touching his arm as they talked in hushed voices.

    Kara took a step back, watching him lean closer, and talk to that woman softer. She laughed and looked away, and Mon-El looked extremely proud of himself.

    Kara’s first thought was maybe he _didn’t_ really remember the kiss, but then she knew, that she was too late. She swallowed and turned, walking away. She almost ran out of the door and jumped into the air, flying high up above the city and stopping at her window, opening it from the outside and stepping gingerly inside.

    She pulled off her jacket and threw it on the couch, and walked quickly across her apartment, dropping her phone and glasses onto the table. She walked over to the sink and poured herself a glass of water. Her phone buzzed and she walked over to it, seeing a text from Alex.

 _How’s it going????_ The message said.

    Kara put the phone down angrily, and swallowed. She put the glass down gently in the sink and looked at her watch. It was getting late. She decided it was time to just forget about it and go to sleep. She walked into her room and threw herself onto her bed.

    She folded her hands on her stomach and stared up at the ceiling. She took a long moment and thought about everything. She figured that it was just the _idea_ that had been attractive to her.  It wasn’t him--it _couldn’t_ be him. He was a Daxamite! A self-centered, stupid-faced-- _jerk!_ He was only ever thinking about himself, only thinking about his own needs--just like the rest of the people from his planet!

    And he was beautiful-- _absolutely_ beautiful. He made her feel the same. Just being around him made her feel lighter almost; as if his being there was somehow putting all her responsibilities on hold; like she’d lost a weight keeping her down, and she could float just inches above the ground. Together they had _moments_ . They were long and slow and warm, and the more she thought about it the more she realized that she _did_ like him. This made it all the much harder.

    She turned over onto her side and tucked her hands under her pillow. She could feel the weight again.

*    *    *

    “ _Kara?_ ”

    She became conscious, slowly opening her eyes as someone called her name. She sat up blearily and swallowed. She had a bad taste in her mouth. She realized she’d forgotten to brush her teeth before she went to bed last night.

    “Oh _crap!_ ” She jumped up and ran into the bathroom, pulling the sweater she’d worn the day before over her head.

    She rolled up the sleeves of her button down shirt and turned on the faucet. “ _Kara!_ ” The voice called again, much closer this time.

    “Mhm!” she said through the toothpaste.

    Alex appeared in her bathroom doorway, looking extremely concerned. “Kara! Where have you been?”

    “Sleeping!” Kara said defensively, holding her hair back as she spat.

    “Kara, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you for over an _hour!_ ” Alex said, following her sister around her apartment as she got ready.

    “What’s wrong?” Kara stopped, turning back to face her.

    “Well first of all you were late, but now there’s a four alarm fire downtown!” Alex said urgently.

    “Oh my god!” Kara yelled, pulling off the clothes she had over her suit from the day before. “I’m on my way!” she said as she walked to the window, “Call Mon-El, see if he can help!”

    “Why don’t _you_ do that?” Alex frowned.

    “I can’t.” she said, standing in the windowsill.

    “But why--?”

    “--I just can’t okay?” She said, and Alex nodded,

    “Okay,” she smiled sadly, “go get ‘em Supergirl.”

    Kara grinned and jumped out the window, flying into the air. She could hear the fire immediately. She followed the smoke to the source. She landed on the pavement in front of the building, and looked up at the raging flames.

    “Oh god.” she swallowed, she touched the comm gently in her ear, “Hey Alex, you get ahold of Mon-El by any chance?”

    “ _No, sorry, Kara_.” she said sympathetically, and Kara could hear the car horn through the phone.

    “Okay,” she said, trying to prep herself.

    She used her x-ray vision to scan the building, and she found that there was no one left inside. She heaved a relieved sigh and then noticed the real problem; the fire was going to spread to the next two buildings which weren’t evacuated yet, not to mention that one of the flaming walls was about to collapse into the street. She had to make a choice; go in and get the people, or try and stop the fire first. She chose the latter.

    She used her ice breath and stopped the fire, but that wasn’t stopping the wall from collapsing onto the firemen and the other emergency services standing around her.

    “ _Everybody get back!_ ” she yelled, waving them all back, “ _Get away!_ ” she bellowed, the wall falling behind her with a crash. She flinched and grimaced, shielding her head with one arm.

    The dust settled and she looked around. “Is everyone okay?” She called, and there was a vague positive response. She nodded a little awkwardly and turned to look at the building. A man walked up next to her and looked her up and down.

    “What’s up with your hair? Did you just get outta bed or something?” He scowled and she turned to him, a tight smile on her face.

    “Had a long night last night,” she said, “slept through my alarm.”

    “Ah,” he nodded, “happens to the best of us.”

    “Thanks!” She beamed, “Okay well, gotta fly.” she teased and the guy laughed.

    “Ooh, nice one.” She chortled and then jumped up into the air, flying over the city again.

    She stopped and hovered above the tallest building she knew, then gently lowered herself down to the edge. She sat down and let her feet dangle over the side of a twenty-story building. She pulled her phone out (you don’t want to know where she keeps that thing) and looked at it for a long moment. She could see her reflection in the black glass, and the sky behind her,, clouds floating by like nothing. She finally unlocked it and dialed Mon-El.

    It rang, and it rang, and every time it did, she’d tell herself that he’d pick up on the next one. The only thing that picked up was his answering machine.

    “ _Uh, hi, this is--you’ve reached Mon-El. Please leave a message._ ” He said in a confused voice and she smiled adoringly out at National City. “ _Is that all I have to say?_ ”

    “ _Uh, yep._ ” she recognized her own voice and remembered when they’d recorded the message together. “ _Now you just, hang up!_ ” she said cheerily.

    “ _Oh._ ” he said.

    “ _You gotta press--”_

    “ _\--Please leave your message after the beep._ ” The electronic voice made Kara jump, and she wasn’t ready for the mechanical beep that followed.

    “Oh god! Oh sorry, I wasn’t ready,” she spluttered, “I uh, I just wanted to call and ask you where are you, Mon-El? Alex said she’s been trying to call you, but I see now that you’re not picking up, so I guess I’ll just try you later.”

    She nodded and swallowed, “Okay bye!” she said with forced happiness.

    She hung up the phone and swayed back and forth slightly, glancing around to see if anyone was there or could’ve perhaps seen her make the phone call. She tucked her phone away and then slipped off the building, flying over to the DEO headquarters and landing gently on the balcony.

    “Hey, nice job, Supergirl.” J’onn said, coming down the stairs with her, “What took you so long to get back?”

    “Oh, I, uh, had to make a quick call.” She said as they stopped at the table.

    “Hey, Kara.” Alex said cheerfully, walking into the room and patting her sister on the shoulder.

    “Hey, did you manage to get Mon-El on the phone?” she asked and Alex looked down at her hands.

    “I wasn’t able to get a hold of him,” Alex said, “Sorry Kara.”

    “It’s okay,” Kara smiled bravely, but she felt lost inside.

*    *    *

    Mon-El stumbled home after a long night out. He threw his keys somewhere and then dropped down on the couch. He picked up his phone off the coffee table where he’d left it this morning. He looked at the lock screen and saw that he had twelve missed calls. He laughed and opened his voicemail, just like Kara had taught him.

    Eleven of the messages were from Alex, and she’d only left two messages. They were both very business-like, and straightforward. Alex was like that; no non-sense, and pragmatic. The twelfth call and the third message were from Kara. His heart skipped a beat.

    He put the phone up to his ear, and heard wind rushing around.

    “ _Oh god! Oh sorry, I wasn’t ready,_ ” he beamed as he listened to her stumble, “ _I uh, I just wanted to call and ask you where are you, Mon-El? Alex said she’s been trying to call you, but I see now that you’re not picking up, so I guess I’ll just try you later._ ”

    There was a pause and he waited for her to go on. He wanted her to say something about what was keeping them apart.  But all she said was, “ _Okay bye!_ ”

    He sighed and looked down, dropping the phone on the couch next to him. He felt hot. It was definitely hot in that room. He yanked off his jacket and pulled his shirt over his head. He walked over to the window and propped it open with a wooden block Kara had found for him to use.

    He threw himself back on the couch and sighed, looking up at the ceiling hopelessly. He hated how she had to be the one to help him set up his whole life. Everything was going to remind him of her. He was going to have a hard time forgetting about this whole thing.

    He tucked one arm under his head and stared up at the cracked white plaster. His other hand tapped meaningless beats and patterns on his stomach. His eyes traced the lines and he found himself slowly falling asleep.

    After what felt like only moments to him, Kara marched up to Mon-El’s door, with her glasses slightly askew. She banged on the door angrily and bellowed his name.

    “Mon-El!” she yelled, banging again, “ _Mon-El--!_ ”

 _God,_  she was furious with him. He opened the door abruptly, “-- _Yes?_ ” he shouted over her.

    She put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. “Where were you today?” She said.

    “What?” he said and she crossed her arms.

    “Don’t pretend you don’t know,” she said, “You wouldn’t pick up the phone!”

    He rolled his eyes and walked further into the apartment, bending down to pick a shirt up off the coffee table. She walked in behind him and shut the door angrily, “Where were you today? And where were you yesterday?”

    “Why?” he asked casually, pulling the shirt over his head.

    “Uh, _because_ ,” she said, “There was a _crisis_ and we _needed_ you!”

    “Oh, you _‘needed me’_ ” he imitated, rolling his eyes, and walking past her towards the bathroom.

    “Yes! I did!” She snapped as he began to brush his teeth, “There was a _car chase!_ I’d think that was _exciting_ enough for you!”

    He paused and pretended to give it a lot of thought. “Hmm… nope!” he said simply, putting the toothbrush back into his mouth.

    She scoffed, “ _Seriously?_ ”

    “Yeah ‘ _seriously.’”_ he said, cleaning off the brush and spitting out the water he’d had in his mouth.

    She scoffed again, lost for words. He brushed past her and into his small kitchen. He put the coffee pot under the faucet and started to fill it up, avoiding avoiding her eyes.

    “We could’ve _really_ used you today, and yesterday,” she said dejectedly.

    “I’m sure you had it all handled, Kara.” he turned and put the pot in the coffee maker, the remark had a sharp bite to it.

    “I mean it was all fine but--”

    “--So then you _didn’t_ need me?”

    “What--?”

    “--You just said it was all fine so you didn’t need me.”

    “No--I said that I needed your help--I thought you _wanted_ to help?!” She yelled, flustered.

    “No! _You_ wanted me to help!” He snapped, “I didn’t want this--I _don’t_ want this!”

    “That’s not what you’ve shown me!” She snapped back.

    “Oh yeah? Then what have I shown you?” He leaned against the counter and stared at her expectantly.

    “You’ve shown me that you _do_ care,” she said with gentle urgency, “you tried to take down Henshaw and you helped with the alien parasite--you’re a _good_ person, why’re you pretending like you’re not?”

    He blinked and looked away. He took a shaky breath and she did the same. She leaned back on her other foot and bit her lip.

    “Mon-El?” she asked softly, nerves making her voice quiver slightly.

    “What?” he asked sharply, still not meeting her eyes.

    “Is this about the kiss?” She asked with the same gentleness as before.

    “What kiss?” He frowned, looking further away from her.

    “You know what kiss.” She said, “I know you remember.”

    He shook his head, turning to look at her again, “I don’t know what you’re--”

    She stood on her tiptoes, cupped his cheek and brought his face slightly down to hers. She pressed a warm kiss to his lips, making him freeze. She ran her other hand up his chest to his other cheek, trapping him. She was about to pull away when he wrapped his arms around her waist, enveloping her in his embrace. She curled her fingers in his hair and relished in the feeling of his body against hers. She didn’t want to pull away, and neither did he.

    She was caught in between his body and the counter but _he_ was at her mercy. She leaned away and he instinctively chased her lips. He quickly stopped himself and opened his eyes. She beamed up at him, letting her hands slip from his hair to rest on his chest. He stared down at her in awe.

    “I didn’t think I was ever going to get to do that again,” he breathed, making her laugh nervously. “Is this why you came to the bar the other day?” He asked, voice a bit hoarse.

    “What?” she frowned incredulously.

    He pulled her slightly closer, “I saw you,” he smiled, “I saw you leave.” he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

    “You were with another woman.” She shrugged, and then her eyes grew wide, “She’s not--”

    “--No.” he laughed.

    She nodded and then looked at her hands on his shirt for a moment. Her head jerked back up to look at him again, “You guys didn’t--”

    “-- _Kara_ ,” he laughed, “no.”

    “Okay sorry.”

    “I mean I almost did--”

    “--Oh--”

    “--But then I didn’t.”

    “Oh.” she nodded and they stood in silence for a long moment. “I’m sorry.”

    “About what?” he asked, brushing her cheek gently with his thumb.

    “About not saying anything.” She said and he nodded, looking at he calmly, “I just got nervous--”

    “--I did too, it’s okay.” he said gently. “I’m, uh, sorry.”

    She nodded and smiled up at him, and then looked back at her hands. They stood there for a long moment then, comfortable in the resting silence that ensued. She glanced up at him, and they both smiled. She looked down at her hands again and he watched her adoringly.

    “I, uh,” she looked up at him expectantly, “I’d really like to kiss you again--"

    She laughed, and he continued, a soft smile playing on his lips. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, holding you here is nice and all, and making up is _great_ \--”

    “--Oh yeah,” she beamed, nodding profusely, “amazing.”

    “--Mhmn,” he hummed, “but uh,” he smiled, pulling her close again, “I’d just really like to…”

    She nodded, and laughed, leaning up slowly and kissing him. He smiled into it, his hands holding her closer at the small of her back. She pulled away and he groaned in protest. “You have to promise me something.”

    “Anything,” he smirked.

    She paused and formulated words from her thoughts, putting her hands on his neck again. “Promise me that you won’t lie like that again-- _and_ that you won’t pretend not to care to hurt me.”

    “He nodded, growing serious, “I promise.”

    “Other people can get hurt.” She said seriously and he nodded again, “But it hurts me the most.”

    “I promise, Kara.”  He smiled.

    “Good.” she beamed, “Okay,” she laughed nervously, “You can _kiss_ me again--”

    “-- _Thank you_.” he teased, pulling her close and kissing her again.

    They did this for a long moment before he pulled away again, frowning. “Wait.”

    “What?” she groaned impatiently, opening her eyes slowly.

    “Did I actually drool?” he asked and she laughed.

    “ _Seriously?!_ ” she giggled and he nodded vigorously, trying--and failing--to keep a straight face.

    “Yes ‘ _seriously.’”_ he laughed, “I need to know!”

    She laughed uncontrollably and put her head on his chest. He smiled down at her hair. She pulled away and looked up at him, sighing happily, with a pretty smile on her face.

    “Didn’t notice a thing.” She said gently, pulling him closed and kissing the warm smile resting on his lips.


End file.
